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Ding Dong (at front with microphone) and the Ravers Clavers in performance.

Tifa

Wayne Marshall

Bugle

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On Wednesday, February 22, the JN Foundation will launch their next educational project at the Knutsford Court Hotel, New Kingston. It is Science Genius Jamaica, inspired by the work of Professor Christopher Emdin of Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York.

Students are expected to compete within their schools, after which "the top Science Geniuses will compete against each other", the JN Foundation's Dr Renee Rattray told THE STAR. Science and music teachers, collaborating with each other and their students, will be offered mentorship from local dancehall acts during the competition.

Mentored

Science Genius Jamaica will be opened to grade nine students, who will be mentored by dancehall performers Tifa and Wayne Marshall, with assistance from Bugle and Ding Dong. "The mentors will be there to inspire and challenge them, to show them that it's cool to be smart, it's cool to be a geek," Rattray continued.

Emdin has previously been invited to Jamaica through other educational programmes. In 2013, the educator was keynote speaker for the closing ceremony of Centres of Excellence, a leadership programme executed in six rural schools, developed by JN Foundation in collaboration with VM Foundation. He was also invited as a speaker at JN Foundation's School Leadership Summit last July.

Science Genius began four years ago and is the creation of Emdin, author of Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation and Gary Grice, more famously known as GZA, a founding member of the legendary rap group WuTang Clan.

Rattray told THE STAR that she plans to conduct research with the Science Genius Jamaica project to determine students' current perception of the science and assess how it changes over time.